Brazil secured its place at the 2010 World Cup with an impressive 3-1 win over arch-rival Argentina while South America's other candidates jockeyed for the region's other three automatic berths. The defeat left Diego Maradona's side contemplating the dreaded prospect of missing out on the Finals but Argentina did cling on to the fourth and final qualifying place after Colombia beat Ecuador 2-0 in another of Saturday's five-match program. Chile and Paraguay (27) are both three points behind Brazil (30) and on the verge of sealing spots in South Africa with three matches remaining in the marathon 18-game qualifying round. A Rodrigo Millar equalizer saved the Chileans, who were surprisingly held 2-2 at home by Venezuela, with their Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa saying: “Those were two points lost.” Paraguay beat Bolivia at home with a Salvador Cabanas penalty. Bottom side Peru ended a run of six consecutive losses with a surprise 1-0 home win over Uruguay thanks to Hernan Rengifo's late strike, compromising the visitors' chances of at least making fifth place and going into a playoff. The fight is well and truly on for fourth place after Argentina's defeat, only its second ever at home in a World Cup qualifier after its 5-0 rout by Colombia on exactly the same day 16 years ago. Maradona's return late last year as coach has not met with the desired results, however, and defeat against Paraguay in Asuncion Wednesday could leave Argentina once again faced with the prospect of a playoff. This time around it would be against the fourth-placed team in the CONCACAF region, a position occupied by Costa Rica. However, despite his own team's qualification, Brazilian coach Dunga rued the loss through suspension of playmaker Kaka and two-goal Luis Fabiano in their home match against Chile Wednesday. It was Argentina's third loss in five qualifiers under former World Cup-winning captain Maradona, who said that looking for a victory in Asuncion “will be hard, complicated”. Argentina has 22 points, Colombia and Ecuador 20 and Uruguay and Venezuela 18. Mexico crushes Costa Rica A scintillating performance from Giovani Dos Santos lead Mexico to a resounding 3-0 win at Costa Rica Saturday, throwing the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying group wide open. With the United States coming from behind to beat El Salvador 2-1 in Utah and a rampant Honduras thrashing bottom-placed Trinidad and Tobago 4-1, a single point separates the group's top four teams. Honduras and the United States have 13 points and lead Mexico and Costa Rica by a point with three matches remaining. The top three teams in the group qualify automatically for next year's Finals in South Africa. The fourth-placed team has a final chance to qualify through a playoff with the fifth-placed side from South America. With just five points, El Salvador is on the brink of elimination with Trinidad and Tobago, which was crushed by in-form Honduras. Honduras will have a much tougher test Wednesday against Mexico at the Azteca stadium, while the United States plays Trinidad away. Costa Rica travels to El Salvador.
